Center for Biological Diversity

For Immediate Release, February 22, 2017

Contact: Amy Atwood, (503) 504-5660, atwood@biologicaldiversity.org

Pruitt Emails Show Work on Behalf of Right-wing Organizations

Pruitt Did Bidding of ALEC, Koch Brothers

WASHINGTON— After a court order in response to a lawsuit by the Center for Media and Democracy, the Oklahoma attorney general's office today released more than 7,500 pages of emails that confirm new EPA head Scott Pruitt's close ties with the fossil fuel industry and far-right organizations.

“Scott Pruitt made no secret of his ties to the fossil fuel industry, but these emails show a broader network that also includes far-right organizations,” said Amy Atwood, endangered species legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “No right-wing cause seemed to be off-limits to Pruitt's public office as he focused on weakening protections for the climate and endangered species.”

The emails show how Pruitt used his office as Oklahoma attorney general to work on a regular basis with oil and gas company Devon Energy, American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, Americans for Prosperity, and the American Legislative Exchange Council's (ALEC) Oklahoma arm, known as the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, or OCPA.

One email shows a Pruitt aide asking an Americans for Prosperity staff member “how the AG's office and AFP can work together” and AFP celebrating Pruitt as a “true champion of freedom and liberty!” for his attacks on the EPA's climate protection rules.

Other emails show ties to OCPA, the far-right, secretive organization, as Pruitt spoke at OCPA and Koch-funded events. Pruitt's attacks on behalf of industry and right-wing groups were not limited to the EPA, but also included immigrants, the LGBTQ community, and health care, with one OCPA staffer thanking Pruitt for attacking Obamacare on Fox News. 

Pruitt's staff worked to roll back a Bureau of Land Management rule protecting public lands from fracking, as well as engaging in efforts to weaken climate protections and endangered species protections. He also worked with the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers to roll back renewable fuel standards, the emails show.

Pruitt also used his position as Oklahoma attorney general to attack federal protections for the lesser prairie chicken, serving as lead counsel in a multi-state effort to remove the bird from the threatened species list.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.2 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

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